Peacock Springs open to Cave diving
Peacock Springs is open again for cave diving. :clapper
Members of the North Florida Springs Alliance line committee completed a dive this morning and found the visibility to be at least 20 feet throughout the cave and lines in good shape.
After divers finished the dive the park manager was notified and a recommendation to open the cave was made. The manager accepted that recommendation and approved re-opening the cave for diving.
The park is not yet open for open water or cavern certified divers. As soon as conditions improve that too will change. So stay tuned.
Be aware that the steps are slippery so please be careful.
Jim Wyatt
NFSA Line Committee Chairman
www.northfloridaspringsalliance.org
Peacock Trip Report March 14th
Hi Cindy,
Great to see you guys too....we had a great dive this afternoon in Peacock.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Cindy
Hey TJ, it was great to see you two. Next time call me. I have a new phone 386-454-3977. I think I changed to the new one on the guide lists. I need to check. Hope you have a great Grand Traverse.
Tj and I dived Orange Grove and Peacock 1 this afternoon, we did the Grand Traverse. We entered at Orange Grove, went up mainline through Challenge Sink, jumped over through the Peanut Restriction, and down the Peanut Line, checking out the occasional side tunnel. Hey, someone's (pre-flood) spool or reel is still on the Peanut restriction jump (and covered with crap).
On route, we cleaned off a few of the lines (some looked like something from a haunted house!), and checked line placements.
Throughout our dive the visibility ranged from 20-30 feet. There was much particulate on the floors in places, but is heavy and settles quickly. The water is tea colored, visibility was better on the Peanut side. There was considerable flow pushing against us up along Orange Grove until we hit the Distance Tunnel, and VERY strong flow in the first section of the Challenge-Olsen line. This picked up again down along the Peanut Line.
Our dive time was 95 minutes, and maximum depth was 71 feet. Water temperature was 67F degrees throughout. The water level at the sinks and springs are higher than normal (four of the steps are covered at Peacock and Orange Grove).
http://dayo.com/pictures/PICT0001.jpg
There were some carcasses of cave crayfish, but more alive and active than dead, and a few healthy catfish (saw no dead fish). There was a lot of green algae growth in both basins, a few fish, and some turtles out basking in the sun.
After surfacing at P1, we swam over (under the water) to check out P2 and P3. There was a significant (stronger than usual) siphon into P3. Viz in the basin and P3 cave was worst than P1, but was interesting. More 'trash' in P3 than P1 also. I think the water temp was colder too.... but didn't check my computer...
We went by Little River to check it out, but the gate is locked:
http://dayo.com/pictures/PICT0014.jpg
Images from our Peacock dive:
http://dayo.com/pictures/P1010005.jpg
http://dayo.com/pictures/P1010012.jpg
http://dayo.com/pictures/P1010014.jpg
http://dayo.com/pictures/P1010015.jpg
So Trip Planning Last Week of March
So I've heard from many different people. I've been wanting to cave dive since I left Florida last April! Anyway, I was hoping to come down March 27 - April 3, but have gotten mixed reviews. Some say don't waste my time because the caves JUST came back. Others seem to think life is great, come dive. What's everyone's opinon about coming and diving in two weeks!?